« Flashback To FDR's Political Hurricane | Main | Blogging On Broadband, Religion And Democracy »

Hurricane Job Hunter: An Appeal For Your Help

Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I have wanted to do something to help the victims of the storm but something more personal than just donating to charity. After several days of contemplation, it hit me: I write, therefore I am. So write I will.

With the help of Devin Hedge, a friend of mine and Webmaster extraordinaire, I have launched a site called Hurricane Job Hunter as a forum for volunteering my writing and editing services. I also have recruited some of my journalistic colleagues to help. The site will enable people left jobless by the hurricane to contact us so we can write cover letters, resumes or other materials they need as they try to recover from the storm.

That is the easy part. The hard part is finding the people who need the help, especially when we are nowhere near the hurricane's path or the key evacuee areas, and when many of the storm's victims are homeless, computer-less or never had computers or Internet access before the hurricane hit.

But as the managing editor of National Journal's Technology Daily and the author of Beltway Blogroll, I believe in the power of the Web to connect people and make things happen. After the hurricane hit, I watched with amazement as hundreds of bloggers marshaled their resources to raise more than $1 million in just a few days. The same kind of energy was apparent after the tsunami of last December.

This post is my attempt to start the same kind of charitable blog swarm. I am not asking for your money; I am asking for your help. If you have connections to people left jobless by Hurricane Katrina, either direct or indirect, please tell them about Hurricane Job Hunter. If they do not have computer access, act as their mediators and contact us through the site so we can try to open employment doors to them.

You can volunteer, too. If this appeal works as I hope it will, the few folks currently working for Hurricane Job Hunter will be overwhelmed with requests for help. Go to the site now and let us know what you can do to ease the burden. Whether you are a whiz at creating catchy cover letters and resumes, or a technology expert who has better ideas about using the Web to accomplish the goals of the site, we could use your help.

Posted by | 04:39 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://amcblog.nationaljournal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/239

Comments

If you don't mind, I would like to post a link to this site. I am Employment/Program Director for Katrina's Angels (www.katrinasangels.org) and I am trying to empower job applicants by being able to refer them to resources they will need in the job search. This is a much needed offer on your part. I think this will be a morale booster to people that have suffered so much already--it's nice to know that someone can help you get started. Let me know, thank you so much for your efforts! Lynne Onufer Employment Director, Katrina's Angels

Lynne | 02.14.06 01:01 PM

Post a Comment